Sgt. Rafael Peralta, a San Diego Marine who some in Congress believe is overdue for the Medal of Honor, has become a well-known name in military circles.

Except on the Navy's website. Until Thursday, the website listed the future destroyer named for the fallen Marine as the Ralph Peralta.

Notified about the error Thursday morning, the Navy fixed it within an hour.

“We regret this mistake – there is no excuse,” said Lt Cmdr. Chris Servello, a spokesman at the Pentagon, in a written response.

“As evident by naming the ship after Sgt. Peralta, there is great respect for the service and sacrifice he gave for our country."

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, called the mistake “unfortunate” but he didn't blast the Navy too hard. Hunter has led what's become a campaign to upgrade Peralta's posthumous valor award from a Navy Cross to the Medal of Honor.

“Secretary (of the Navy Ray) Mabus has been a strong supporter of Sgt. Peralta and the error online isn’t a reflection of the secretary’s commitment,” Hunter said in a statement from his office.

Hunter hopes Mabus will continue to support Peralta's case in coming weeks. The San Diego congressman plans to resubmit a package of evidence to new Defense Sec. Chuck Hagel in another effort to upgrade the award.

Still, this error by the Navy lands atop what some view as a pile of Pentagon missteps and misjudgments, big and small, in the closely watched case.

Peralta, 25, was killed in Iraq in November 2004 during house-to-house fighting in Fallujah. He is credited with scooping a grenade under his body to absorb the blast.

The Marine Corps and Navy Department both recommended him for the Medal of Honor, but then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates convened an expert panel that said Peralta was already too injured for conscious thought. Last year, then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta chose not to upgrade the award.

Those decisions angered some current and former Marines. Some pointed to Peralta's Mexican heritage or his status as a “grunt” infantry sergeant as reasons he was passed over.

It was noted, for instance, by bloggers in December when Panetta's office got the date of Peralta's death wrong in a letter about the defense secretary's recent decision.

The Navy announced in February 2012 that it would name a destroyer after the fallen Marine.